He insisted that the body was not on a “crusade against Christianity” but said that there was conflicting evidence about whether some brethren churches operate like a “cult”.

He also repeated his criticism of many charities’ increasing dependence on state handouts.

During the session the Tory MP Charlie Elphicke asked Mr Shawcross about public anger over the behaviour of some street collectors – nicknamed chiggers, short for “charity muggers”.

Mr Shawcross replied: “I think it is very upsetting to people. Most people don’t like being accosted in a sometimes quite belligerent and persistent manner in the streets.

“My view is that it is up to the trustees of charities not to let that happen.

“It’s the trustees’ responsibility to make sure that their money is collected not only in a legal and proper way but in a way which does not offend people.”

The meeting was told about one newspaper website discussion of chuggers which elicited a string of extreme reactions from the public.

Agreeing that the example given did “highlight the level of concern”, he added: “This is so serious that this is damaging the whole charity sector.”

But he insisted that the Commission had no powers to police the actions of collectors on the streets directly and said it was for Parliament to decide whether it should.

He said: “It would be a huge departure for us to have to police chiggers and it seems to me that it would is effective for local councils and for trustees and for the police themselves to be called in when necessary.

“[But] I quite agree with you that it is a blight on the charitable sector and it has to be dealt with.”